Toilet tank lever assembly



Feb. 11, 1969 M. J.AMENT ETAL 3,426,365

TOILET TANK LEVER ASSEMBLY Fi1edFb.15,19e7 sheet ofv Q) LL Q) LL INVENToRs Myron J. Am'ent Frank R. Holycross, Jr.

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ATTORNEYS M. J. AMENT ET AL TOILET TANK LEVER ASSEMBLY Feb. 11, 1969 Filed-Feb. 15, 1967 32% ATT RNEYS Feb. l1, 1969 M. J, AMEN-r ET Al. 3,426,365

TOILET TANK LEVER ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 15,1967 sheet 3 of a if; Fm. 3 L,

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66 m;\\\ y/f/l/ lgggs 42 f* Q 9 P 9 9 0 INVENTORS Myron J. Amenf Q Frank R. Holycross,Jr. O

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,426,365 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 6 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A tank lever assembly for toilet tanks where the lever mounting spud is designed to be held in place on tank walls of different thicknesses between a resilient arcuate clip and ra ange on the Spud. On the periphery of the Spud are ngerlike flanges to engage with the hole through which the spud passes and assist in holding it in position and against rotation on the tank wall.

This invention relates to a mechanism for ushinjg tanks and more particularly to van improved Itoilet tank lever assembly which can be manufactured inexpensively of substantially all nonmetallic parts :and which can be quickly and easily assembled and installed.

In the mounting of tank lever assemblies a square hole is provided just Ibelow the top and to one side of the toilet tank. The tanks are usually constructed from clay tired into vitreous chin-aware. Inserted in this hole is a lever mounting spud or bushing which receives the spindle of an operating handle. A lever for actuating a valve is usually connected to the spindle.

It has been known and it is quite common to use a metallic spud that is held in position on a tank Wallby means of a nut. However, -this technique is fraught with many problems. Among them 'are that it is diicult and sometimes inconvenient to tighten the nut because often cramped quarters inside the toilet tank will not permit the use of a Wrench, there yis the danger that the nut may be made too tight, and thus, crack the tank wall, and also, because tightening of the nut on the spud requires many turns, installation of the yassembly is slow and tedious.

An object of this invention is to provide a tank lever assembly wherein essentially Iall of the pants can be made of plastic materials.

A further object of `this invention is to provide a tank lever assembly of relatively few parts that is economical to manufacture and easy to install.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tank lever assembly that can be held in position on tank walls of dierent thicknesses by a resilient clip.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of this invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing and claims wherein:

FIGURE l is an exploded View .of the assembly showing the various parts and their relation to each other.

FIGURE 2 shows a rear view of the assembly as it appears mounted on the side wall of the tank.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken along line 3 3 of FIGURE 2 and shows the various components of the invention in assembled relationship.

FIGURE 4 is a view taken :along line 4 4 of FIGURE 3, and shows a cross section of the spud and spindle.

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along line 5 5 of FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a view taken along line 6 6 of FIG- URE 4.

The tank lever assembly can best be described by reference to FIGURE 1 which shows the parts comprising the assembly in an exploded view. A side wall 1 of a water tank is prepared for the tank lever assembly by forming a hole 2 of rectangular cross section therein. Received in the hole 2 is a lever mounting Spud or bushing 4. The spud is held in engagement with the 'hole by ngerlike projections 44. A clip 5 is mounted over the spud to secure it in position on the wall. The stern or spindle 35 of a handle 3 is slidably and rotatably received in spud 4. A lever 6 with means to receive a valve lift chain 7 at its end is in the tan-k and is non-rotatably mounted to the spindle 35.

As best seen in FIGURES 1, 3 and 5, the operating handle 3 comprises a circular section 31 with an elongated tapered handle section 32 integral therewith. The circular section 31 of the handle includes a wall 33 with a depending housing of skirt 34 connected thereto. Extending from wall 33 is :a tapered spindle 35 with a reduce-d rectangular end portion 36. The end portion 36 is chamfered at its extremity 37 to facilitate the assembly of the end portion to the lever. On its upper surface the end portion has a notch 3S for a purpose which will be explained hereinafter. As seen in FIGURE 5 a web 39 between the inside wall of the skirt 34 and the spindle 35 provides sa rigid relation between the spindle and the skirt and has further uses hereinafter explained.

The spud or bushing 4 is a synthetic plastic material such as polycarbonate although any other rigid material could be used. At one end the Spud has a rst flange 41 of slightly smaller diameter than the inside diameter of the skirt 34 of the rounded portion 31 of the handle 3 but larger than the distance between opposite sides of the hole 2 in the side of the tank. On flange 41 are mounted four arcuate longitudinally extending key members 42 in circumferentially spaced relation. Adjacent flange 41 is a reduce-d portion 43 of generally rectangular cross section which includes four sets of outwardly extending fingerlike 'projections 44 set at right angles to each other and in alignment with the key members 42 on flange 41.

These ngerlike projections engage the four corners 21 of the rectangular hole 2. Adjacent the rectangular portion 43 of spud 4 is an intermediate cylindrical portion 45, the Adiameter of which is less than the distance between the ilats of rectangular portion 43. Adjacent the intermediate cylindrical portion 45 is a ange 46 which has a diameter small enough to permit it to pass through hole 2 in the tank wall yet of suicient diameter to engage clip 5 as hereinafter explained.

The Spud has a tapered cylindrical bore 47 to slidably and rotatably receive the tapered spindle 35, the point of greatest diameter being at flange 41 and the point of least diameter being at flange 46.

The clip 5 is of arcuate configuration and comprises an integral portion 51 and two prongs 52 and 53. Traversing the length of the clip and on each prong are reinforcing ridges 54. The space between the prongs 52 and 53 at their free ends is slightly smaller than the diameter of intermediate portion 45 of the spud 4. The space between the prongs 52 and 53 at the fixed en'd of the clip portion is slightly larger than the space between the free ends of the prongs but it is small enough to cause the upper portion of each prong to frictionally engage the walls of the intermediate portion 45 of the spud. Because the clip is resilient the prongs yield to receive the intermediate portion 45 of the spud and then spring back into position. In addition, the arcuate portion of the clip is yieldable so that a tank wall up to a thickness equivalent to the distance between the rear wall 48 of the flange 41 of the spud and the front wall 49 of the clip 5 when assembled can be accommodated by this assembly.

Extending at right angles from the integral portions 51 of the clip is a handle portion 55. This portion is reinforced on its under side by the end portions of ridges 54. The handle portion is large enough to be gripped between a finger and thumb and thus serves as a convenient means for removing and inserting the clip.

The lever 6 comprises an elongated arm 61 including a vertical member 62 and a laterally extending flange 63 as best illustrated in FIGURE 2. As illustrated in FIG- URE 3 the vertical member 62 has an angularly offset portion 64 at one end. This offset portion includes a raised square boss 65 having a square aperture 66, the boss being connected with flange 63. The raised square boss and the square aperture therein are associated with arm 61 so that the diagonals of the square are in general alignment with the length of arm 61. At its opposite end the flange 63 has an angular offset formed with a slot 67 cut into it. Surrounding the slot 67 is a hollowed out area providing a seat 68 to receive a ball chain. In alignment with slot 67 a cut-out 69 is formed in vertical member 62 large enough to accommodate the balls of a ball chain. A ball chain 7 is removably engaged in slot 67 so that the lower portion of one of the balls of the chain can rest in seat 63 while its upper portion is received in cut-out portion 69 or, if necessary, the chain can be adjusted with the result that the chain will be secured in slot 67 `in its mid portion with the excess passing through the cut-out portion 69.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the lever 6, in its assembled position extends downward from the boss and away from the side wall of the tank. This results from, respectively, the angularity of the aperture 66 in boss 65 with respect to the length of the lever arm 61 and because of the angle of the back surface of boss 65 with respect to flange 62.

The opposite end of the ball chain 7 from that portion secured to lever 6 is connected to the conventional flush valve (not shown) within the toilet tank, such valve upon being opened permitting discharge of fluid from the tank.

In order to install the tank lever assembly in the rectangular hole in the side wall of a toilet tank the spud 4 is inserted into the hole so that the rear wall 48 of flange 41 bears against the outer wall of the tank and flange 46 is disposed inwardly of the inner wall of the tank. The resilient fingerlike projections 44 frictionally engage corners 21 of the usually rough inner surface of the rectangular hole 2 to prevent rotation between the spud and the tank wall. The projections 44 by their frictional engagement with the wall of hole 2 also tend to hold the spud in the hole and center it.

The spud 4 is held in place on the tank wall by clip whose prongs 52 and 53 are secured over the intermediate cylindrical portion 45 of the spud as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Thus, the spud is held in position on the wall between the ilange 41 on the outside of the wall and the clip 5 bearing against flange 46 and on the inner side of the wall and is kept from rotation by the fingerlike projections 44 and their engagement with the corners 21 of the rectangular hole 2. Because the clip is resilient and of arcuate configuration it is possible for this device to be used on wall portions of varying thicknesses. For example, if the wall portion used is thicker than the portion illustrated, the clip will merely assume a more flattened position and thus securely hold the spud in place. When assembled on a wall of maximum thickness the clip assumes a flat configuration.

Spindle 7 of the handle is slidably mounted in the opening in the spud so that the web 39 on the underside of handle skirt 34 is free to rotate in the space between two adjacent key members 42 on the flange 41. This relationship limits the arc of rotation through which the operating handle may be moved.

The lever arm 61 is slidably mounted on the reduced 5 rectangular end portion 36 of the spindle so that an overhanging lip 70 on the enlarged boss 65 of the lever engages within groove 38 on the upper surface of the rectangular end of the spindle to secure it in place.

The assembled tank lever assembly is operated by giving the operating handle 3 a small counter-clockwise rotation which results in a relatively large vertical displacement of the chain 7 and the flush valve (not shown) associated with it to permit the discharge of the contents of the water tank.

While the present invention has been shown with reference to a water tank, it should be understood that it is not limited to such a system. The broad concept of the invention may be used in any hydraulic system or apparatus wherein it is desirous to actuate a valve by a remote mechanical linkage. While the present invention has been shown in one specific embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without depart from the spirit and the scope thereof.

We claim as our invention:

1. A toilet tank lever assembly comprising:

elongated apertured means for engagement with an opening in the side wall of a toilet tank, said apertured means including a holding means of greater cross-sectional area than the tank opening for engagement with the tank, and a `flange adjacent a reduced portion of said apertured means remote from said holding means;

lever means for connection to a discharge valve in the tank; manually engageable actuating means disposed in rotating relation with and extending through said apertured means and fixedly connected to said lever means whereby rotation of said actuating means causes rotation of said lever means; and

resilient clip means, said clip means engaging over said reduced portion of said apertured means, and pressing against said tlange and the tank wall adjacent the tank opening whereby said apertured means is Iheld in the tank opening by said Iholding means and said resilient clip means.

2. A toilet tank lever assembly as described in claim 1 wherein:

said apertured means is a spud, said spud having a plurality lof resilient fingerlike projections on its periphery to fractionally engage said spud with the tank opening.

3. A toilet tank lever assembly as described in claim 1 wherein:

said clip means is of arcuate configuration and includes two prongs for engagement with opposite sides of said reduced portion of said apertured means while said clip means is in resilient engagement with said flange and the tank wall.

4. A toilet tank lever assembly as described in claim 1 wherein:

said actuating means includes a spindle with a reduced end portion of non-circular cross section; and

said lever means having an aperture at one end, said aperture being of substantially the same cross section as said reduced end portion of said spindle whereby said aperture engages said end portion in a fixed relationship. 7 5. A toilet tank lever assembly as described in claim 4 wherein:

said actuating means and said lever means are held in engagement by securing means on said lever means being received in a receiving portion of said reduced end portion.

6. A toilet tank lever assembly as described in claim 1 wherein:

said apertured means includes a locking means on said holding means, said locking means comprising a plurality of key members in spaced arcuate relationship on said holding means; and

said actuating means includes a fixed radially extending rib, said rib being received between two of said key members on said locking means whereby rotation References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,110,2151 9/1914 'Bragger 4-67 2,336,153 12/ 1943 Ryder 4-67 2,755,483 7/1956 Kruck 4-67 3,358,294 12/ 1967 Noll-an et lal 4--67 SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Primary Examiner.

of said actuating means is limited by the arcuate 10 HENRY K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner.

space between adjacent key members. 

